Hens and Roos
Herd Master
Welcome 
glad you joined us. Lots of great information here.
glad you joined us. Lots of great information here.
Raising Meat Rabbits in North Carolina
- Thread starter Chris100
- Start date
Dani4Hedgies
Loving the herd life
Well, first of all, welcome to BYH!
So much more to consider. Alfalfa pellets for rabbit with 16-18% crude protein. Grass or Timothy hay is good daily too. I use a tsp of BOSS each day. I use Calf Mana too. Tsp for adults and non-lactating. Tb. for lactating does, and a couple Tb for grow-outs. I like to use 2Tb ACV (cider vinegar) per gallon of drinking water. Tastes good, so drinks more. Less chance of UTI, adds Vit A.
Sorry to high jack the thread but does the Cider Vinegar added to the water decrease the algae or does it make it grow faster? I live in the Midwest and am looking at raising meat and show rabbits in the next couple years and with our temps getting to 100 and staying there I know that Algae can grow like crazy.
Bunnylady
Herd Master
Algae love basic (i.e. alkaline, i.e. "hard") water. Using softened water in my horse water troughs dramatically cut down the amount of algae growing in them (my rabbit water system is entirely under a roof, so I don't get a lot of algae in it). Since vinegar is acidic, it could potentially reduce the rate of algal growth, though I don't know that you'd want to add enough to change the pH that much.
Dani4Hedgies
Loving the herd life
Nods and we have very Hard water in KS and yea I don't think 2 tbls will do much for it. Will have to check the water in Missouri and it may just have to wait until we move to our new homestead in Missouri in a few years to raise bun buns. Thank you for answering my questions.
Pastor Dave
Herd Master
I use tbe ACV for renal issues, decreases UTI , Bladder infections, Kidney infections, etc. If it helps the algae, that is a bonus. It gives some Vit A too. It is worthwhile to take in bottles and wash in bleach solution periodically.
As a kid, we had well water, and it was recommended to add a milk jug cap ful of bleach to the gallon of drinking water to prepare tbe rabbits going to the Indiana State Fair, so they would be used to city water in Indianapolis.
Our bottles stayed pretty clean that way too. The water had a chlorine smell, but not much added taste. It did the trick though. No problems getting them to drink city water. Our water now comes from above ground water tanks of municipal water for our county. So, no added bleach even though no plans to go to the State Fair.
As a kid, we had well water, and it was recommended to add a milk jug cap ful of bleach to the gallon of drinking water to prepare tbe rabbits going to the Indiana State Fair, so they would be used to city water in Indianapolis.
Our bottles stayed pretty clean that way too. The water had a chlorine smell, but not much added taste. It did the trick though. No problems getting them to drink city water. Our water now comes from above ground water tanks of municipal water for our county. So, no added bleach even though no plans to go to the State Fair.
Missmonty
Ridin' The Range
Hello! There are a lot of great options for breeds out there I would look around and find what is available to you locally. I personally breed standard rex as I like their temperaments, they are easy breeders, and they do produce a decent amount of meat. They are slightly smaller than NZ and other meat breeds but I also like that their pelts are a lot nicer. Eventually I plan to sell their pelts but I just haven't had time this year to try it out.
As far as processing I would call around some local butchers and ask. There are different requirements in some states. We found it most cost effective and stress effective just to do it ourselves. My husband and I have a good system, he culls/skins/removes organs, I break down the meat into smaller pieces for storage.
Where to have hides tanned for you really depends on what you're wanting to do with them. If you're wanting to sell them for profit there is a lot more you'll need to put into this. Higher quality breeders, specific culling times based on coat (which generally does not match up with ideal times for meat), etc. I currently give mine away to a lady that lives near a friend of mine. She uses them for crafts. I try to waste as little as possible so since I currently do not have a use for them I give them to someone who does. I do however plan to start tanning my own, I have heard its not a super complicated process by any means but it does take some practice to get good at it.
Rabbits will enjoy some sunlight but you do not want them in direct sunlight. My buns tend to have a harder time in the summer with producing because they get too hot. I personally have all of mine in a covered area but I do also let them graze on occasion and when I do they have access to sun and shade as they please.
Kits honestly depends on the individual rabbit. I have had some that consistently produce 2-3 kits and then others that bust out like 14 for me every litter. I even have two sisters and one gives me 12-14 consistently (and takes care of them well) and her sister gives me 5-7 and usually struggles a bit depending on the time of year. If I had to give you an idea on roughly how many I get on average, I'd say I end up in the 6-8 range per litter.
How time consuming rabbits are really depends on how big of an operation you're planning and how often you're breeding/selling/showing/culling. General care like food and water maybe takes me an hour a week but I do a lot more than just give them food and water. I try to check on them all a couple times a week, so pet them and hold them. Check their feet, trim nails as needed, etc. All of our cages are outside in a barn and the droppings fall to the ground so every couple days I scoop that up and clean it out. I personally sell a decent amount of babies each year which offset my costs to feed the rabbits so I also try to handle the babies when they get old enough to get them use to being handled. Then when we go to cull we make a day of it and usually we get through 25+ rabbits in just a couple hours from start to finish.
I would NOT leave them for more than a day without your care. In the summers mine go through a entire water bottle (big ones too) from when I leave for work in the morning until I get home. I also can't leave extra feed in a lot of my cages because #1 a few of mine would eat themselves into a coma but #2 I have a bunch that love to dump their food. Then since I have babies most of the spring, summer, and fall I want to check on them at least daily as well. We bought a handmade hutch off someone and not thinking I had babies in it. Well a baby got its leg caught in the wire so it would have been really bad if I wasn't coming out for days at a time.
Sorry for the long message, I hope I answered a lot of your questions!
As far as processing I would call around some local butchers and ask. There are different requirements in some states. We found it most cost effective and stress effective just to do it ourselves. My husband and I have a good system, he culls/skins/removes organs, I break down the meat into smaller pieces for storage.
Where to have hides tanned for you really depends on what you're wanting to do with them. If you're wanting to sell them for profit there is a lot more you'll need to put into this. Higher quality breeders, specific culling times based on coat (which generally does not match up with ideal times for meat), etc. I currently give mine away to a lady that lives near a friend of mine. She uses them for crafts. I try to waste as little as possible so since I currently do not have a use for them I give them to someone who does. I do however plan to start tanning my own, I have heard its not a super complicated process by any means but it does take some practice to get good at it.
Rabbits will enjoy some sunlight but you do not want them in direct sunlight. My buns tend to have a harder time in the summer with producing because they get too hot. I personally have all of mine in a covered area but I do also let them graze on occasion and when I do they have access to sun and shade as they please.
Kits honestly depends on the individual rabbit. I have had some that consistently produce 2-3 kits and then others that bust out like 14 for me every litter. I even have two sisters and one gives me 12-14 consistently (and takes care of them well) and her sister gives me 5-7 and usually struggles a bit depending on the time of year. If I had to give you an idea on roughly how many I get on average, I'd say I end up in the 6-8 range per litter.
How time consuming rabbits are really depends on how big of an operation you're planning and how often you're breeding/selling/showing/culling. General care like food and water maybe takes me an hour a week but I do a lot more than just give them food and water. I try to check on them all a couple times a week, so pet them and hold them. Check their feet, trim nails as needed, etc. All of our cages are outside in a barn and the droppings fall to the ground so every couple days I scoop that up and clean it out. I personally sell a decent amount of babies each year which offset my costs to feed the rabbits so I also try to handle the babies when they get old enough to get them use to being handled. Then when we go to cull we make a day of it and usually we get through 25+ rabbits in just a couple hours from start to finish.
I would NOT leave them for more than a day without your care. In the summers mine go through a entire water bottle (big ones too) from when I leave for work in the morning until I get home. I also can't leave extra feed in a lot of my cages because #1 a few of mine would eat themselves into a coma but #2 I have a bunch that love to dump their food. Then since I have babies most of the spring, summer, and fall I want to check on them at least daily as well. We bought a handmade hutch off someone and not thinking I had babies in it. Well a baby got its leg caught in the wire so it would have been really bad if I wasn't coming out for days at a time.
Sorry for the long message, I hope I answered a lot of your questions!
